Observations from a Brand-New Vegetarian

As y'all can probably tell -- quite clearly -- from the recipes that have been posted here of late, K has decided to fully embrace the vegan lifestyle. It's far easier to eat vegan at home than to eat out as a vegan (Tallahassee is notoriously veg-unfriendly as a whole, although there are options such as Soul Vegetarian and Sweet Pea Cafe), and I'm discovering that the same holds terribly true in this town as a vegetarian.

Admittedly, I'm new to being vegetarian; I've been flexitarian (only chicken and fish, with the occasional pork and turkey) since 1996 or so, and cutting out meat completely hasn't been easy. But I made the decision to go meat-free when K and I started on the 21-day vegan diet back in January, and I haven't regretted it for one simple reason:

I feel much better and healthier than I have in years.

That isn't lip service either. Since about 2005, I've been slowly but steadily gaining weight and losing energy. Chances are pretty good that this could be a thyroid thing (my younger sister has had hyperthyroidism since she was fifteen, and she's going to be thirty-two in May), but the fact remains that my energy level had dropped from I can work a whole nine hour shift at Walmart in the stock room and still be up to go out when I get home from work to I just got off a nine hour work shift, why the hell should I get up and do something? Because of being so sedentary at both work (I spend most of that nine hours at a desk with occasional bouts of ten minutes to deliver documents around) and at home, my weight went from about 130 lbs -- a healthy weight, although not necessarily the ideal for my 5'4" frame -- to where it currently hovers constantly between 155 to 165 lbs.

Since January, when we started eating totally vegan at home and vegetarian while eating out (even with the minimal options, a lot of places do serve things other than salads that a vegetarian can dine on -- my current favorite treat is Red Elephant's hummus dip served with freshly made pita chips), I've actually felt a little more energetic. True, I can still feel worn out after work, but I'm more likely to be willing to go walking Lake Ella or taking a stroll or bike around the neighborhood. Hell, we actually had the energy and gumption to start rearranging our living room -- which has been pretty much set up and not changed since we moved into the current homestead almost three years ago -- with decent success.

So I'm not going to sit and tout the vegetarian lifestyle as something you guys so have to try, omg, I feel like a new person!; I'm just going to say that it's a good lifestyle fit for me and leave those sorts of decisions up to you.

After all, we're all adults here. The decision shouldn't belong to anyone but yourself.